Miami, FL -
December 27,
1999 - Burger King Corporation is voluntarily recalling the
Pokémon®
balls included with BURGER KING® kids meals. The balls may pose a
suffocation
hazard to children under three years of age. Pokémon balls are
the
ball-shaped plastic containers that hold Pokémon toys in BURGER
KING kids meals. Either half of the Pokémon ball can become
stuck
on a child's face, covering the nose and mouth and may cause
suffocation
of a child under three years of age.

A
13-month-old girl reportedly
suffocated when one half of a Pokémon ball covered her nose and
mouth. An 18-month old girl reportedly also had a ball half stuck over
her face causing her distress; however, the girl's father on the second
attempt pulled the ball-half from her face and no injury resulted.

The
Pokémon balls
are plastic ball-shaped containers between 2 ¾" and 3" in
diameter.
They pull apart to reveal one of 57 different Pokémon toys
inside.
The balls were distributed in a variety of colors including red and
white,
and hot pink. Packaging described them as safety tested and recommended
for all ages of children.

BURGER KING
restaurants nationwide
distributed the Pokémon Balls inside BURGER KING BIG KIDS MEALS™
and regular kids meals from early November through December, 1999.

Consumers
should immediately
take the balls away from children under the age of three. They should
discard
the ball or return both halves of the ball to a BURGER KING restaurant
for a free small order of french fries. Consumers may continue to use
the
Pokémon toy that came inside the ball.

BURGER KING
restaurants will
continue to distribute the Pokémon toys in balls with BURGER
KING
BIG KIDS MEALS, but the Pokémon balls will no longer be included
with the toy in the regular kids club meals, generally intended for
younger
children. Consumers should not allow children younger than the age of
three
(3) to play with these balls.*

*On Friday,
December 24,
1999, Burger King Corporation instructed all of its U.S. restaurants to
discontinue distributing the Poké Balls with its Kids Meals.
Thereafter,
on Friday, December 31, 1999, out of an abundance of caution, the
company
decided to cease distribution of the Poké Balls with its Big
Kids
Meals as well.

Shortly after
this incident,
there was another death because of these toys. The parents were
blaming
Burger King for not recalling the balls fast enough, and so for a week,
Burger King aired 15-second commercials on TV informing parents of the
recall. It was the biggest toy recall in history.